


Taken and Recovered

by HeartyMedusa



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Cerberus - Freeform, F/M, Human Experimentation, Recovered, Taken
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-25 17:10:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartyMedusa/pseuds/HeartyMedusa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a short period of ME2 and slightly AU. Something that was taken is soon to be recovered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> This won't be a long fic, just something that popped into my head and I'm finally writing it all out.

There were decisions that would never be easy- Miranda had long since accepted that. She had faced decisions before- when she had kidnapped her sister, when she brought Shepard back- feeding one egotistical man's god-complex-, and more than a few other times.

Previously, she wouldn't have lost an ounce of sleep over her decisions. She was raised in a way that allowed her to shrug off things before the proverbial ink was even dry. That had been her way of dealing before.

Before what? Before Commander Katherine Morgana Shepard, of course.

Not even that, necessarily. Even after they had retrieved Shepard, she had been like that. No, this was after Shepard was on her feet and saving the galaxy for the second time.

On her feet and changing people for the better.

Miranda had watched as she soothed the savage beast of Jack, dispersed the anger from Garrus, softened Zaeed, instilled a sense of strong morality in Mordin, and had Grunt (or, as Shepard liked to call him: _her little baby Krogan_ ) wrapped around her little finger from the moment she _birthed_ him.

Miranda couldn't quite place when the Commander had managed to get a toe into Miranda's resolve, but she had been able to and that left Miranda questioning all of her previous decisions. Somehow, that damn woman had managed to pry open her resolve and let her see the demons and skeletons that had always been in front of her.

The one decision that weighed most heavily on her mind was considered no less immoral than reconstructing and resurrecting a woman.

 _Mirror_ was something that needed to be resolved and there was only one person who Miranda could trust to take care of it.

Staring down at the files she had loaded up to a datapad, she felt an unfamiliar ping of unease.

Part of her wanted to keep her clouded view of Cerberus intact- believe all of the lies that the Illusive Man told.

Hence, the predicament that she found herself in.

At the time, it had seemed understandable- even _acceptable_.

But, somehow, Shepard had managed to instill a sense of her own paragon morality into Miranda (and the rest of the misfits aboard the Normandy) and Miranda realized how truly wrong what she had helped do was.

She wished that she could hate Shepard for what she had done to Miranda, but she couldn't. So, instead, she stood and went to find Shepard.


	2. Chapter Two: Why

Miranda stood uneasily just outside of her office doors, staring down at a datapad- clearly conflicted about something. A few times she even started to turn around before stopping herself and, as she stopped herself, she would mutter something quickly and quietly.

It was obvious that she was oblivious to everyone and everything around her- including Shepard watching her from the mess hall. 

Something was clearly up.

Finishing off her cup of tea- mostly to see if Miranda would make a decision before she was finished-, Shepard stood and walked over to Miranda and waited silently for the other woman to notice her. In that time, Shepard was able to note Miranda worrying her bottom lip, shifting her wait anxiously, and silently murmuring to herself.

"Miranda," Shepard said gently so as not to startle the other woman.

Despite all of Shepard's efforts, Miranda jumped and looked at Shepard with bewilderment. "Commander!"

Smiling, Shepard gestured towards Miranda's office. "Looks like something's bothering you," she observed, "let's talk about it in private."

Miranda nodded and walked (quite plainly and without all the hip sashay's that normally accompanied her movement) out of earshot from everyone else. Suddenly, she stopped and turned on her heel. "Why'd you help me rescue my sister- Oriana?"

They both knew that Shepard knew that that wasn’t the real problem. Oh, it was a contributor _to_ the problem, but, it didn’t make the answer any less important.

Shepard took a seat on the couch. "It was the right thing to do. She clearly means a lot to you and you asked for my help."

“It was that easy? You never considered not doing it?”

“No, I didn’t have to think about it. You are a part of my crew and I’d do anything for my crew. So, yes, it was just that easy.”

Miranda fell silent as she looked back down at the datapad in her hand, once again worrying her bottom lip. "I have information on a mission you might be interested in," she said suddenly- the sentence practically one word.

"Oh?"

"Cerberus has...a child in stasis," she hedged, handing Shepard the datapad.

She skimmed the file briefly. "How young of a child are we talking?" Shepard asked, not really seeing too many details.

Closing her eyes, Miranda murmured, "She was taken out of...her mother's uterus at little more than three months from conception."

Shepard turned her attention to Miranda. "I'll make this a priority and send Joker the coordinates." Standing to leave, she stopped. "Thank you. I know how strongly you feel about Cerberus and how much this must feel like a betrayal."

Miranda said nothing as Shepard left her office- a fact that was not lost on Shepard.


	3. Chapter Three: Law

“Garrus, Kasumi, you guys are up,” Shepard informed them in the mess.

Normally, since Miranda had brought up the mission, Shepard would’ve taken her. Given how sensitive the nature of the mission was (and since Miranda had downright refused to go), Shepard decided to take her go-to team.

“Any details?” Garrus asked, glancing up from his visually unappetizing (at least for Shepard) meal that he seemed to enjoy a great deal.

She glanced around the mess obviously before giving him a look that clearly said _later_. “Intel is limited,” she explained honestly and vaguely as she fixed another cup of tea and sat down across from her best friend.

Garrus stared at her for a long time before nodding. “ETA?”

Shepard looked up into the mess’s security cam and asked, “Joker?”

Nothing was said for a long moment. “About three hours,” Joker finally answered. “How’d you know that I was watching the security feed?”

“We are currently traveling at FTL in a no-threat system on route to a relay,” Shepard pointed out matter-of-factly. “What else is there to do?”

It seemed that Shepard had struck Joker speechless as Garrus gave her the Turian equivalent of a smirk. “One point Shepard,” Joker admitted in defeat. “It’s a damn good thing that I’m on your side.”

Shepard smiled. “You know, the one rule on Omega may be not to fuck with Aria, but, no matter where you are in the galaxy, there’s only one damn law,” she explained, standing up from the table with her tea. When she realized she had everyone’s attention, she finished, “Don’t piss off Commander Katherine Shepard and still be in sight. And, even then, it’s fucking risky.” She turned away from everyone and walked away. Just before she got out of sight, she added, “I’ve been known to hunt people down and kill their asses.”

Everyone in the mess sat in silence, seriously considering her words.

“Then Kaidan’ll be dead in a week,” Joker muttered and Garrus rolled his eyes as he stood up.

“Kaidan’s the only one who’s immune to that law,” Garrus pointed out as he made his way to the elevator.

He wanted to find out more about the upcoming mission.


	4. Chapter Four: Labs

There were few things that Shepard absolutely hated- Reapers and Cerberus aside.

Hospitals and labs were high on the list.

 _Cerberus_ labs made even worse.

As Shepard, Garrus, and Kasumi snuck through the clinically cold lab, Shepard continuously thought back to waking up...alone and confused.

"Do we know why they decided to keep the baby?" Kasumi asked quietly as they walked past a room containing nothing but processing units.

Shepard massaged her nose. "No, not really. I'm still not completely sure what had Miranda in such a strange mood."

"Well, pretty soon, we'll be going through the Omega-4 relay. Maybe this is to help clear her conscious," Garrus suggested.

Shepard glanced down at her omni-tool and frowned. "Maybe, but then she should've wanted to come with us." She looked up the corridor and then glanced down again. "We're not far."

 

* * *

 

Miranda walked quickly into the medbay before she could talk herself out of it. Chakwas looked at her in shock when she stopped in front of the doctor.

"What can I help you with, Miranda?"

She tightened her grip on the datapad in her hand before handing it to the doctor. Chakwas read it carefully and then looked up at Miranda. "Yes?"

"It was repaired," Miranda said carefully.

Chakwas looked at her- not quite understanding. "What do you mean?"

"You are going to have company when Shepard returns. I can't explain much more. You'll understand then."

Chakwas returned to reading the datapad further. "How long-"

"Longer than you think," she said from between her teeth as she walked out of the medbay.


	5. Chapter Five: Echo

In the end, they had to kill two doctors that were watching over the baby. Kasumi went right up to the stasis pod and peaked in to get a good glance at their target.

"It's adorable," Kasumi gushed excitedly while Shepard and Garrus skimmed the office for clues of the baby's origin.

Shepard opened up a terminal containing personal entries from one of the scientists.

_"Miranda sent us a fetus- we didn't risk asking about the parents. No, we installed it into a gestation tube and began our sister work with the one and only. From preliminary tests, we can safely say that she'll be a biotic if she's able to mature."_

Shepard activated her comm. "Joker, prep Chakwas. Let her know we've got a package coming her way."

_"Aye-aye."_

"Oh, can we open it?" Kasumi all but begged, practically bouncing from excitement.

Sighing, Shepard went to the access panel and put in the required sequences. Kasumi and Garrus stepped back as the pod opened and Shepard stepped towards the opening. When the baby began crying, she gestured for a cloth of some kind and took the baby up into her arms once she wrapped the little girl up.

"Shh, it's okay, Little One," she murmured quietly. "You're okay," she cooed, rocking the baby a little. The baby quieted and stared up at her.

"Any mention of a name?" Shepard asked, looking away from the baby.

Garrus shook his head as Shepard handed the squirming mass of baby to Kasumi. "Project Mirror was all I could find."

Shepard rolled her eyes and unholstered her pistol. "Bullshit," she spat, gesturing her team forward. "This is someone's baby and she needs a real name."

Kasumi looked at her, interested, as she fell in between Shepard and Garrus. "You have something in mind, Shep?"

"Not my place," she murmured.

Garrus snorted. "The great Commander Katherine Shepard rescues an unnamed baby- I'm pretty sure the parents would be okay with whatever name you choose."

The baby made a soft noise that had Shepard glancing back. "'s not my place. I rescued her- I'm pretty sure that's enough."

Shepard gestured them behind cover as a pair of Cerberus security meandered into the hall from a lab. She pressed a finger to her lips as she collapsed and replaced her gun onto her hip. She gestured for Kasumi to hand her the baby and then quietly take out the guards.

The baby looked at Shepard with her strangely colored hazel eyes. Each eye seemed to have a different dominant color- one blue and the other brown. Her hair was _just_ dark enough to not qualify as blonde.

Shepard pressed the little one to her chest when it looked like she was about to cry and murmured, "Hush, little Echo, hush."


	6. Chapter Six: Parents

Chakwas was surprised to see Shepard carrying the baby into the medbay, but had enough sense to keep quiet about it. Despite being held against hard armor, the baby seemed perfectly content- not uncomfortable in the least.

“She doesn’t have a name,” Shepard said carefully, carefully handing Chakwas the little one, “so we’ve been calling her Echo.”

The doctor nodded as she carried the baby to an exam table. “Any record of her parents?”

“None. I’m hoping you’ll run a DNA search- maybe find out if she has any living relatives. We’re not long from going through the Omega-4 relay, so put a rush on it.”

Chakwas smiled down at the baby. “She’s adorable,” she murmured, taking a DNA sample. “Won’t be hard finding someone who’d want her.”

“Check and see if she’s Miranda’s first- she was acting pretty strange. I wouldn’t be surprised if Echo is hers.” Shepard sighed as her omni-tool flashed. “Duty calls. Take care of her, Doc.”

 

A few hours later, Chakwas stared at her monitor to Echo- back and forth. The baby made a small gurgling sound that made Chakwas stare at her in disbelief.

“Doctor,” Miranda said quietly, easing into the medbay. “You’ve got your results?”

Chakwas waited until Miranda picked up the baby. “How?”

“After everything that’s happened, you feel the need to ask that question?”

“What’s the plan then?”

Miranda turned on the comm. “Commander, Doctor Chakwas would like to speak with you down in the medbay.”

After a sound of a thump and grunt, Shepard responded with, _“I’ll be right down.”_

Miranda handed Echo to Chakwas. “You tell her.” Without another word, she left the medbay and made a straight line to her office.

 

Shepard walked into the medbay and was greeted with a stunned Chakwas. Her eyes were glued to the child in her arms.

“Doctor?” When the doctor looked up at her and held out Echo for Shepard to take, she took the baby and smiled down at it. “What’d you find?”

“She’s a biotic- both of her parents are. She has had some cybernetic implants, but appears to be healthy. Despite her situation thus far, she should grow up perfectly fine.”

Shepard waited a minute for Chakwas to continue and, when she didn’t, asked, “You said both of her parents are biotics- who are they?”

Chakwas gestured to a seat. “You might want to sit down for this one.”

As she sat, Shepard pointed out, “This indicated that I know them.” She smiled down at Echo when the baby waved her arms.

“Commander, both of parents are alive- not together, but alive.”

“Here that, Echo?” Shepard cooed down at the baby. “Who are they?”

“Commander Kaidan Alenko,” Shepard felt her stomach fall through her feet and her heart lodge itself in her throat, “and Commander Katherine Shepard.”


	7. Chapter Seven: Blood

Chakwas quickly took Echo from Shepard who was on her feet seconds later. She was pacing, shaking her head erratically, muttering under her breath. She glanced at the baby and then violently ran her hands through her pixie-cut, blonde hair.

“No,” she said quickly. “No, no, no. This isn’t even possible. Your results have to be wrong,” she informed Chakwas, not looking over at her, just shaking her head as she paced the length of the medbay.

“I assure you that they’re accurate- I ran them twice more just to be sure.”

Shepard stopped and cast her a withering glare. “Then check them again,” she said, her biotics flickering a little and she had to close her eyes and focus not to lose control. “Check them again, Doctor.”

“I don’t need to. I know Echo is yours.”

Shepard clenched her fists hard enough for her short nails to bite into her palm. “I was pregnant?”

Chakwas stood slowly and handed over Echo. “Yes, if you recall, I had asked you to meet me. You were late and then the attack came.” Shepard blushed, recalling exactly _why_ she had been delayed and with _whom._ “Kaidan doesn’t know. I never told him.”

“Why?” she asked, smiling down at the baby- their little miracle.

“He had already lost you- what do you think would’ve happened if he knew that he lost a child as well?”

“I was on birth control.”

Chakwas shrugged. “It failed- it has been known to happen.”

Shepard shook her head tiredly and held the baby a little higher on her chest as she pressed the comm. “Joker.”

_“Commander?”_

“We need to get to the Sowilo system in the Hourglass Nebula,” she ordered.

 _“Making a trip to see Liara again?”_ When Shepard didn’t respond, he simply said, _“ETA is seven hours.”_

After turning off the comm and before leaving the medbay, she stated, “Kaidan deserves to know.”

 

Shepard stood in the middle of the mess with the baby lying comfortably asleep in her arms. She was unsure what to do. She wanted to confront Miranda- _needed_ to confront her.

She was angry.

She all but wanted blood.

Smiling down at the little bundle in her arms as she made a small sound, Shepard headed to Miranda’s office and glared at the woman until she looked up.

Miranda looked exhausted…terrified.

 _Good_.

“Why wasn’t I told about her?” Shepard demanded.

Miranda gave her a small smile. “There was a plan.”

Shepard gritted her teeth as she glared at the other woman. “A plan?”

“The Illusive Man had no delusions that you would stay with Cerberus once you had taken care of the Collectors. He brought you back to take care of them, yes, but he also wanted you in Cerberus. Project Mirror,” she gestured to the baby, “was a means to keep you in Cerberus. We hadn’t anticipated on you being pregnant, but it was an opportunity for us- on that we couldn’t pass up.”

“She is a human being.”

“At the time, she was a means to an end.”

“She’s alive.”

“Not in the beginning,” Miranda stated. “Project Mirror began just like Lazarus- except that she had to be extracted from Lazarus.”

“What changed?”

“You,” Miranda admitted. “Me. At some point, you stopped being Project Lazarus and became Commander Katherine Ann Shepard- you became a _person_ to me. Then you began to change things- to change people. I couldn’t live with the fact that the Illusive Man would use Project Mirror against you, you deserve more than that.”

Shepard nodded, wishing that she didn’t understand and could just kill Miranda. However, the Miranda that had taken the baby was a different woman than the one who now sat in front of her. “Her name is Echo.”

“That seems appropriate.”

Shepard sighed. “I came in here with every intention of kicking your ass.”

“I would’ve let you.”

Turning to walk out, she paused, “That’s why I didn’t,” and then left.


	8. Chapter Eight: Mother

Shepard sat alone in the mess, staring down at Echo- her little miracle, trying to pick apart every piece of her features and match them to her and Kaidan.

She was trying to grasp the concept of being a mother. She wondered if she would ever be any good at it. She had been an only child and the only experience she had had with babies was when she had walked around the colony and seen the women with their babies.

She didn’t know how to be a mother.

“Was Doctor Chakwas able to figure out who the parents are?” Garrus asked as he and Kasumi sat down.

She let loose a smile as the baby took hold of her finger in a strong grip.

Echo was strong- she’d need to be with parents like the ones she had. She’d need to be considering the state of the galaxy.

“Yeah,” she murmured.

“So, who’s the lucky mom and dad?” Kasumi prodded.

Shepard didn’t take her eyes off of the baby. “She’s Kaidan’s,” she informed them.

“That bastard,” Garrus spat.

“You mean that hot marine we saw on Horizon?” Kasumi asked enthusiastically. “Who’s the mother?”

“I am,” she murmured. “Echo is Kaidan and my daughter.”

Garrus and Kasumi stared at her with varying degrees of shock and surprise. “How is she so young? I mean, you two haven’t been together in almost three years.”

The question that Shepard knew that Kaidan himself was going to ask.

“Project Mirror. She died when I did and they had to bring her back just like me. When they did, they kept her in stasis to, if need be- and I promise it would be needed-, use as leverage to keep me in Cerberus.”

Kasumi cooed at the baby who stared at her curiously. “Why’re we heading to see Liara?” Garrus asked, curiously watching Kasumi and Echo.

“There’s only one person in the galaxy- outside of the Alliance- who has the ability to tell me where Kaidan is,” Shepard explained.

“So you’re going to tell him about Echo?” Kasumi asked, tearing her attention away from the baby.

Shepard said nothing, just watched as her daughter blew little bubbles and giggled. She pushed aside a stray piece of brown hair from Echo’s forehead and smiled sadly.


	9. Chapter Nine: Baby

Right before leaving the ship, Shepard was forced back to the medbay to receive assistance with a dirty diaper.

None the less, she made it to the Shadow Broker Base with both herself and Echo in one piece.

"Shepard!" Liara greeted without turning around. "I heard you were able to rescue Project Mirror."

Frowning, Shepard walked Liara and the console she was studying. "What d'you know about the Project?"

"Very little, surprisingly. Were you able to discover anything?"

Echo chose that moment to let out a gurgle and a little giggle, startling Liara. "More than you can possibly image. Can you do me a favor and have Kaidan meet you somewhere- say, Illium?"

"Can I ask why?"

"I'm close to initiating my suicide mission and I need someone to watch over Echo."

Liara looked hurt. "I could always watch her."

"I'd like to give Kaidan the opportunity to take care of his daughter first.

"His…his-"

Shepard chuckled. "I should clarify by saying _our_ daughter. Echo is Kaidan and my daughter."

"Give me ten minutes."

* * *

Thankfully there was a formula of milk that Echo could eat while they waited a little bit away from Liara on Illium, in a corner that wasn't easily visible from the entrance, nor from Liara's table.

When Kaidan entered, he zeroed in on Liara and sat down across from her without any sort of preamble. "You said this was important."

He hadn't changed in the five months since Horizon. He kind of looked a little more tired, but, otherwise, seemed perfectly fine.

Liara fiddled with her fingers. "I have news about Shepard- news that you might find interesting."

"I doubt that," he all but spat, shaking his head.

From her vantage point, she had watched as anger and distress rose onto his face. It seemed that her presence wasn't even required for those emotions to be present.

She wondered if this had to do with the fact that she hadn't messaged him back.

She knew that her messages were being monitored and didn't want to put him in anymore limelight than he already was in.

It was to protect him.

Standing slowly (so as not to wake Echo), she made her way over to Liara's table. "Kaidan," she murmured softly.

It was enough for him to shoot to his feet- sending his chair banging into the floor (and effectively waking the baby). "Kit-Kat-Shepard!"

His struggle with what to call her gave her a little hope.

"I asked Liara to call you," she admitted, rocking the baby and drawing his eyes to her.

She could practically see the questions flashing through his mind.

_Whose baby is this?_

_Was she pregnant on Horizon?_

_Why does she have a baby?_

_What does she want from me?_

"Who's this?" he demanded suspiciously.

"This is Echo Marie and I'm hoping you look after her until I'm done with my mission."

His expression turned pained. "Why me?"

"Because you deserve the option of getting to know your daughter," she explained as gently as possible.

Kaidan stared at her in shock, shaking his head- much as she had done when Chakwas told her. "That's impossible," he whispered. "She's too young."

Well, there was no easier way to put the next part.

"I was pregnant when I died, Kaidan. When I died, she died too. They brought her back and kept her in stasis. She was what would've kept me in Cerberus." Shepard looked at Kaidan earnestly. "She's our baby, Kaidan."


	10. Chapter Ten: Kaidan

Kaidan couldn’t believe what Katherine was trying to convince him of.

There was no way that the newborn in front of him could be his and her baby.

Too many years had passed for that to be even _possible_.

“I don’t believe you,” he informed her.

Liara smiled encouragingly at Shepard and offered Katherine her own seat. Sitting down, Katherine stared expectantly at Kaidan. When he did nothing, she nodded her head at his overturned chair. “Sit down, Kaidan. I’m not here to force you to do anything you don’t want to do- just hear me out before you leave.”

Kaidan just wanted to turn away and leave.

He had every reason to.

Pursing his lips, he righted his chair and sat down, facing Shepard as though facing an enemy. “I don’t believe you.”

Of course, he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince- her or himself.

Shepard smiled kindly at him. “I wouldn’t expect you to simply take my word on it- it’s been too long for you…too much has happened,” she said gently with pain lacing her words. Kaidan hated that, knowing that he could still cause her pain…that it still mattered to him. “No, I have DNA reports and the file on the Lazarus Project.”

“Councilor Anderson already let me-“

“No,” she interrupted, “you don’t understand. I wasn’t given the full version at the time- of course, I was told otherwise. This includes everything from Project Lazarus to the inception of Project Mirror.” She passed him a datapad that she had hidden underneath the baby in her arms.

Kaidan looked from the datapad to Shepard. “Project Mirror?”

“That was Echo’s designation. They didn’t bother to give her a name- why should they since she was kept in a gestation tube and then in stasis? She wasn’t anything more than leverage.”

It didn’t matter that Kaidan didn’t quite (want to) believe that Echo was his, it bothered him that they had treated an innocent baby like nothing.

If he believed Shepard.

Which he didn’t.

His conviction was ebbing.

“Shepard, I don’t even quite believe the original files you gave on the Lazarus Project.”

“You’ve read them?” Shepard asked.

“Haven’t you?” Then he remembered the gruesome pictures that had accompanied the information and shook his head. “Never mind.”

Liara leaned down and whispered something to Shepard and Kaidan fought against the anger and jealousy of seeing the Asari so close to Shepard. Some old habits seem to die hard- if at all.

Clenching his fists, he glared at Liara. “You believe her- all of this dying and being brought back to life stuff?” he demanded.

She looked at him with the strangest expression on her face. “Of course,” Liara said as though he were stupid, “I’m the one who found her.”

Well…he hadn’t expected _that_.

“Then how’d she get to Cerberus?”

“I gave her to them. They said she could be brought back and she was dead. She needed to come back- for the galaxy, for her friends…for you.”

He wondered if it was his imagination that he heard jealousy in her voice.

Then the words hit.

“You gave her to Cerberus?” he hissed, feeling his biotics start to flare. “After everything we did to put a stop to them- you just gave her to them?”

Shepard balanced the baby in one arm and carefully laid a hand on his arm. “Kaidan,” she murmured.

Kaidan grit his teeth and glanced down at the datapad and went immediately to the results, his eyes scanning it back and forth multiple times to be sure that what he was seeing and reading was accurate. He glanced over at the baby- Echo- and then back to the datapad.

That was almost completely inconceivable.

Something from a movie.

He sat the datapad down onto the table and stared from Echo to Katherine, back and forth.

Echo.

He had a daughter named Echo with Katherine Ann Shepard.

Well.

Damn.


	11. Chapter Eleven: No Promises

Kaidan couldn’t take his eyes off of the baby in his former lover’s arms.

He could see it- _them_ \- in the little one as he continued to study her.

“Say it again,” he whispered, unconsciously scooting his chair closer to Katherine and the baby, his hand attempting to reach out to the baby before pulling back.

“Which part?” she asked quietly.

Despite everything he had said- all of the hell that his words on Horizon had caused her and that damn letter-, her voice was still able to make him shiver.

“Her name, Kitty, her name.” He had meant to say Katherine or Shepard- not the old pet name.

She smiled in acknowledgment. “Echo- Echo Marie Alenko.”

Kaidan glanced at Shepard before looking at Echo. She opened her eyes and looked at him with her strange, very familiar eyes. “Can I hold her?”

Shepard looked at him in fearful horror for a moment before she registered his hurt expression. “The thing is, Kaidan, I’m…well, it’s almost time to….” She broke off, not knowing how to finish the sentence. “When you leave, you’ll be taking her with you- if you want,” she added quickly, so as not to put any added pressure on him. “If you don’t want her, I’ll have Liara watch her. But…just…just give me this time.”

Kaidan hesitantly reached out and took her hand. “You’re coming back to us, aren’t you?”

She opened her mouth to respond but promptly closed it as, apparently, her comm flared to life. Kaidan watched as she listened to the comm and looked mournfully down at Echo. Shepard closed her eyes for a moment. “I’ll reboard in about ten minutes- tell him he can damn well wait, Joker,” she responded.

She stood and waited for him to do the same. Shepard slowly handed Echo over to him. “I can’t promise anything, Kaidan,” she whispered.

After she bent to kiss Echo, he carefully balanced Echo in one arm and wrapped Shepard with the other and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Fight like hell, Kitty. Fight like hell.”


End file.
